Make Your Beard Look Fuller and Manly

It’s amazing to consider the many dimensions of beards. A beard can be a conversation piece, an attention-getter, a sun blocker and a provider of warmth.

It can also lend a face extra depth and personality.

Contrary to popular belief, a great beard doesn’t magically happen. True, your face does most of the growing work. However, it requires special care.

Beard neglect can make your beard look and feel untidy, itchy, and dirty – it may even convince you to shave. No one wants that for your beard so we pulled together some ways you can err in beard growing and to let you know how to make your beard look better than ever.

1. Hygiene

In 2015, at the behest of a local news station, New Mexico microbiologist John Golobic tested random samplings of beard hair. Golobic reported that some of the subjects had potentially harmful bacteria in their facial hair, microbes that could cause infections. Your girlfriend won’t be so happy to hear that and you shouldn’t be either.

DON’T wash your beard with shampoo or body soap or avoid washing it. Shampoo and body soap can dry out your beard and even damage your face and beard-growth while not washing your beard can result in dirt buildup, breakouts, and beard-druff.

DO rinse your beard every day and use a gentle soap made for beards.

2. Moisturizing

Dr. Allan Peterkin, an author and facial hair expert, warns of the dangers of not moisturizing beards. Peterkin says that, without hydration, a beard can rapidly age the skin. Plus, a dry beard can trigger the body to release extra oil, which can result in pimples, angry itchy skin, and coarse beard hairs.

DON’T moisturize your beard with body lotion or forget to moisturize.

DO rub in a few drops of a high-quality beard oil each day to rejuvenate your face and neck. It will make your beard softer and more lustrous.

3. Grooming

Arm yourself with the right tools to keep looking and feeling manly.

Wild beards are a challenge for many men, making them want to reach for their nearest hair comb or razor.

DON’T choose a comb or brush that is made of plastic. They can entangle, snag your beard, cause split ends and breakage that will make your beard look even wilder.

DO use a good beard comb, such as those made of wood, bone or acetate. They will keep your facial oil from sitting on the skin and will reduce breakouts. Find a boars hair beard brush for your beard to smooth the beard, exfoliate your skin (reducing breakouts and beard-druff), and to gently detangle your beard.

4. Trimming

Alex Glover, master barber at the esteemed Murdock London, recommends that to make your beard look fuller, trim your beard to be thinnest near your ears and fullest around your lower jaw. Your beard hairs will all grow at different rates. Some men report the upper lip being the slowest rate of growth while the cheeks as the fastest growth rate. Whatever your beard growth rate, you’ll want to think about trimming.

DON’T wait until your beard is the length you want before you start trimming.

DO trim as your beard grows to maintain an even length, remembering to keep the area a near the ears shorter than the rest of the beard.

5. Ingrown Hairs

Ingrown beard hairs can cause pain and reddening but often men will leave them, thinking it is a pimple or that it will go away with time. These ingrown hairs can become infected and lead to scarring.

DON’T pull out ingrown hairs from the tip of the hair or avoid pulling out ingrown hairs.

DO take out such a hair with a sterilized tweezer as soon as you notice it. Barber Nick Wendel of The Blind Barber, an acclaimed New York City establishment, advises softening the offending hair with a warm cloth and rubbing it with alcohol and then pulling the hair out from the bottom so it comes out in one piece.

6. Styling

When you decide to grow out a beard or you’ve had a beard for a while, you should look into various beard styles to discover what works for your beard growth pattern to make your beard look fuller.

DON’T grow out your beard without a plan. We know, No Shave November is awesome but if you want a beard all year-round, you should have a style in mind that you like.

DO find a style that makes you, and your beard, look its best. Simply use a razor and some shave oil to take off the facial hair that you don’t want and enjoy your beard.

Although there are numerous styles you can choose from, here are a few beards we’ve compiled for men with various beard growth patterns.

Full beard: Even if you have some patchiness in your beard, as you grow it longer the beard will cover up some of the patchiness and, if you build up slowly, trimming as you go, you can also shave any patches that are outside of your beard line so that it won’t look like you’ve suddenly gone wolverine. Check out our awesome shave oils that guarantee a smoother shave for you.

Short full beard: If you like growing a beard but you don’t feel confident you could grow a thick enough beard to make it look full (or you don’t like eating your beard), just give it a trim to your desired length every two weeks.

Detached beard and mustache: Let’s face it, sometimes our faces won’t grow enough beard to make the beard and ‘stache one item. Don’t give up on your beard though! You can still look great with a beard-mustache combo. Try out a beard wax that will help you with better shaping your ‘stache.

Van Dyke: Got plenty of facial hair around your mouth but it doesn’t look to great on your cheeks? Try a classic Van Dyke look with a connected mustache and beard but no beard on the cheeks or toward the ears.

Stubble is a better than nothing! Click here to banish stubble itch with some Beard Oil.

Stubble: If your boss doesn’t allow full beards or you aren’t quite confident in your facial hair, stubble is an excellent alternative. In a 2012 study, researchers at the University of New South Wales concluded that most women prefer it to completely clean-shaven faces.

Go out and research more beards that would look great on you and hit us up on social media! We’d love to see how your beard is growing.

In the end, it’s best to think of your beard as constantly growing and evolving. Remember to take care of your beard because when you know how to treat it right, you can count on having facial hair that’s soft, strong, clean and positively glowing.